Ap psych test

Experiment

Manipulation of one variable under controlled conditions, so that resulting changes in another variable can be observed Detection of cause-and-effect relationships

Confounding variables and random assignment

Many confounding variables can be eliminated through random assignment Confounding variables-variables, other than the independent variable, which can in advertently influence the dependent variable

internal validity

extent to which we can draw cause-and-effect inferences from a study

Hypothesis

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory Statement of relationship among variables Ex. Elementary students with low self esteem are more likely to feel depressed.

A research the sign involves to randomly assign groups of participants. One group receives a one time treatment in the other does not. Later, the two groups are compared to see whether the treatment had an effect psychologist call this kind of research?

An experiment

A psychologist designed a study to test the effects of cell phone use on driving safety. Participants were randomly assigned, either to drive an automobile simulator while talking to a friend on a cell phone, or to drive a simulator without talking on a phone in the study cell phone you can be described as?

An independent variable

In an experiment to test the effects of hunger in aggresive behavior, aggressive behavior would be the

Dependent variable

Surveys

Determining many peoples attitudes, opinions or behaviors done by questioning representative and random sample of people

Expectation effects (Subject bias to experimental effects)

Effects any changes in an experiments result due to the subject, anticipating certain outcomes to the experiment

Double blind technique

Either the experiment or nor subjects know who the experimental or control group is Lessons chances of experimental/participant bias

A psychologist designed a study to test the effects of cell phone use on driving safety. Participants were randomly assigned either to drive an automobile simulator while talking to a friend on a cell phone or to drive a simulator without talking on a phone. What type of research does this scenario describe?

Experimental

Identify independent and dependent variables

Independent variable is manipulated or controlled by the experimenter. The dependent variable is what the researcher measures to see how much effect the independent variable had

Research finds that, in general the higher and incoming college student scores on a given test, The hires the students college grade point average. Which of the following best describes this relationship

Positive correlation

Positive/negative correlations

Positive- An association between increases in one variable, and increases in another, or decreases in one variable and decreases in the other Negative - association between increases in one variable and decreases in another

The psychologist gives the same test to a class of students at the beginning of the day, and again at the end of the school day. The extent to which test scores are similar across the two administrations demonstrates which of the following properties?

Reliability Options: Validity Standardization Utility

Replication

Replicating research means trying it again using the same operational definitions of the variables Final step in the scientific method

Correlational research

Research that examines the relationships between variables, whose purpose is to examine whether and how two variables change together.

Which of the following most accurately describes a dependent variable

Some aspect of a participant's response that is measured in an experiment

Overconfidence

Tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our current knowledge Sometimes we tend to think we know more than we actually know

Use of placebo

The benefits, risks, effectivess, etc. must be tested except: When no proven intervetion exists. Then the use of placebo, or no intervetion is acceptable. Also, if a compelling and scientific methodological reasons for intervention?

Illusory correlation

There is no relationship whatsoever between the two variables equals zero correlation

placebo effect (paper def)

When people simply believe that an action will have an effect To eliminate the single blind technique

random assignment

- Ensures all members of the sample have an equal chance of being placed into either experimental or control group - helps to control for confounding variables

Representative sample

A sample that reflects the characteristics of the population from which it is drawn

Population

All individuals who can potentially participate in a study

Interviews

Both formal and informal data collection Limitation of interviews - Subjective self-report (believe to be positive about themselves), demand characteristics, social, desirability bias (want to appear kind and empathetic)

What is the best way to ensure that results of a study are generalizable to the population

By using a random selection of people in that population

disadvantage of case study

Can't generalize to a larger population, but beneficial to individuals

Dr. Patel is conducting a study to test a hair-growth shampoo she is developing. She instructs fifty participants to use the hair-growth shampoo once daily for a month and another fifty to use a regular shampoo once a day for a month. Dr. Patel measures the participants' hair length at the beginning and the end of the thirty days. Which of the following is the dependent variable?

Change in hair length

Null hypothesis

Hypothesis stated in which way that it can be rejected

A survey shows that children who have encyclopedia in their homes, earned better grades in school than children, whose homes lack encyclopedia. The researcher concludes that having encyclopedia at home improves grades. This conclusion is erroneous primarily because the researcher has incorrectly

Inferred causation from correlation

Read a correlation?

Researchers study questions, that manipulation of independent variable would be unethical Correlational studies allowed to determine if there is a relationship between two variables CORRELATIONS CAN NEVER SHOW CAUSION

Operational definitions are use for which of the following reasons?

They enable researchers to replicate studies by prescisly describing the variables and how they are used

Random sampling

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

Dr. Larson was interested in whether classical music helps students perform better on a test. Dr. Larson randomly assigned half of the study's participants to a group that listened to classical music while taking a test. The other half of the participants did not listen to music while taking a test. The research design Dr. Larson used is

an experiment

Case study

an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

A person displays a set of rare behaviors that psychologists had not known about previously, because nobody had ever shown them before. The best strategy to investigate the nature of those behaviors is

case study

In an experiment which of the following variables refers to the outcome that is measured by the experimenter?

dependent

Synesthesia is a phenomenon that has been estimated to occur in only a few people in a million. Because of its rarity, researchers are likely to choose which research method to study it?

case study

Which of the following is a term for a variable that researchers do not control and that can affect the results of a study?

confounding variable

placebo control group

control group in which some participants believe they are receiving the experimental treatment, but they are not

Correlation and Causation

correlation does not equal causation

Drawing a random sample of people from a town for an interview study of social attitudes ensures that

each person in the town has the same probability of being chosen for the study

Research participants are randomly assigned to one of three groups. One group listens to a list of words, another group reads a list of words printed on paper, and the remaining group hears and reads the words. The researcher then tests the participants' memories to see how many words the members of each group can recall. The modality in which the words are presented (i.e., auditory, visual, or both) is which type of variable?

independent

ethics in research

informed consent, confidentiality, debriefing, deception *also bring no harm to participants And can't force to stay and may leave without reason

Experimental research differs from correlational research, and that experimental research

may reveal a causal relation

Jane Goodall lived among wild chimpanzees intermittently for decades, studying their social and family systems while keeping her interaction with the chimpanzees to a minimum. Her research method can most accurately be described as

naturalistic observation

Naturalistic observation

observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

Importance of random assignment

placing research participants into the conditions of an experiment in such a way that each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to any level of the independent variable Minimizes pre-existing differences between two groups ?

Which of the following is required for a psychological experiment

precise operational definitions

Which of the following procedures is intended to control for pre-existing differences between the groups of participants in an experiment?

random assignment

Which of the following is used to reduce the effects of confounding variables in experiments

random assignments

descriptive research methods

research methods that yield descriptions of behavior, but not necessarily, casual explanations includes Naturalistic, observation, case studies, surveys, interviews, correlations

Research shows that women who are referred by a physician to participate in a study of eating disorders have more severe problems than women who volunteer on their own to participate in the study. If research on eating disorders regularly involves only women referred by physicians, the results of the studies might be limited because of the presence of

sampling bias

The correlation between two measures obtained on a group of individuals is graphically represented as a

scatterplot

The most distinctive characteristic of the experimental method is that it

seeks to establish cause-effect relationships

Operational definitions

specific explanations of abstract concepts that a researcher plans to study -Researchers need clear, operational definitions to successfully replicate a particular study

Hindsight bias

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it Ex. I knew it all along

false consensus effect

the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

wording effect of a survey

the way a question or situation is presented affects how people feel about the matter (ex. better wording = more desired results)

It is important for researchers to use precise operational definitions when

they want to be able to replicate the experiment

Professor Ahad has forty-three students in section one of the psychology classes she teaches and fifty-two students in section two. Section one meets at eight a.m. and, section two meets at one p.m. Professor Ahad gives all of her students the same final exam, and those in section two score significantly higher than those in section one. Professor Ahad concludes that her section one students are academically inferior to students in section two. The biggest problem with Professor Ahad's conclusion is that

time of day is a confounding variable in this scenario.

In an experiment designed to determine whether watching violent scenes on television increases the frequency of aggressive behavior in children, one group of subjects saw a nonviolent cartoon and another group saw a violent cartoon. In the play period that followed the viewing of the cartoons, researchers observed the two groups of children together and counted instances of aggressive behavior The control group in the experiment is the group that

watched the nonviolent cartoon